Apparatus for raising sunken vessels

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for raising sunken vessels. The apparatus includes buoyant spheres comprised of an outer fiberglass shell, an inner rigid polyurethane foam core and a rod embedded within the core. One end of the rod extends outward from the core and forms an eye bolt. Tee apparatus further includes a cable which contains a plurality of pivoting eye hooks and means for moving the cable in a closed loop. Tee eye bolt of each buoyant object is attached to a respective eye hook and is carried by the cable down into a hold of the vessel. The cable comes in contact with a drum assembly placed within the hold of the vessel and the eye hook has a portion which extends through the cable and contacts the drum so as to force the eye hook to pivot and release the buoyant object within the hold of the vessel. As the objects are released within the hold of the vessel they rise to the top of the holds and when sufficient numbers accumulate within the hold it creates the required amount of buoyance necessary to raise the ship to the surface of a body of water.

United States Patent [191 Kruger et al.

[ APPARATUS FOR RAISING SUNKEN VESSELS [75] Inventors: Jean J. Kruger, Northport; Vincent E. Rossitto, West lslip, both of NY.

[73] Assignee: Vincent E. Rossitto, West lslip, NY.

[22] Filed: Apr. 3, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 240,701

Primary Examiner-Duane A. Reger Assistant Examiner-Gergory W. OConnor [451 Apr. 16, 1974 [5 7] ABSTRACT Apparatus for raising sunken vessels. The apparatus includes buoyant spheres comprised of an outer fiberglass shell, an inner rigid polyurethane foam core and a rod embedded within the core. One end of the rod extends outward from the core and forms an eye bolt. Tee apparatus further includes a cable which contains a plurality of pivoting eye hooks and means for moving the cable in a closed loop. Tee eye bolt of each buoyant object is attached to a respective eye hook and is carried by the cable down into a'hold of the vessel. The cable comes in contact with a drum assembly placed within the hold of the vessel and the eye hook has a portion which extends through the'cable and contacts the drum so as to force the eye hook to pivot and release the buoyant object within the hold of the vessel. As the objects are released within the hold of the vessel they rise to the top of the holds and when sufficient numbers accumulate within the hold it creates the required amount of buoyance necessary to raise the ship to the surface of a body of water.

6 C1aims,'6 Drawing Figures Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Kirschstein, Kirschstein Ottinger 82 Frank PATENTEDAPR as 1914 SHEEI 2 BF 2 FIC 3 6 1 APPARATUS FOR RAISING SUNKEN VESSELS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to apparatus for raising sunken vessels to the surface of a body of water.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Various methods have been proposed for raising sunken ships from a body of water. One such technique proposed sinking water filled floats along side the sunken vessel, connecting the floats to the vessel via a cable which passes under the vessel and then pumping the water out of the floats so as to create sufficient buoyancy to raise the vessel to the surface. This technique is obviously expensive and the apparatus is quite bulky.

Another proposed method provided for the pumping of polyurethane foam into the hold of a vessel. Since such foam is quite buoyant and it would displace the water within the hold, it would provide the necessary buoyance to raise the ship to the surface. Unfortunately, polyurethane foam of the type just described, collapses under the great pressure at the bed of a body of water and is thus rendered ineffective.

Another technique proposes the sealing of all crevices and latches in the sunken vessel and then pumping air under pressure into the ship to attain a state of buoyance which would be sufficient to raise the vessel to the surface of the body of water. This technique is quite costly since it is clearly difficult to seal up all the air leaks within the sunken vessel.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION l. Purpose of the Invention It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved apparatus for raising sunken vessels to the surface of a body of water.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an apparatus for substantially automatically raising a sunken vessel at reduced cost.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide an apparatus for raising a sunken vessel which greatly reduces the danger involved by eliminating theneed for divers to be in the vicinity of the vessel when the vessel starts to shift prior to being raised from the bed of the sea.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and in part be pointed out hereinafter.

2. Brief Description of the Invention According to a broad aspect of the invention there is provided an apparatus for raising sunken vessels. The apparatus includes buoyant spheres comprised of an outer fiberglass shell, an inner rigid polyurethane foam core and a rod embedded within the core. One endof of the vessel they rise to the top of the hold and when sufficient numbers accumulate within the hold they create the required amount of buoyancy necessary to raise the ship to the surface of a body of water.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings, in which are shown 7 various possible embodiments of my invention,

the rod extends outward from the core and forms an eye bolt. The apparatus further includes a cable which contains a plurality of pivoting eye hooks and means for moving the cable in a closed loop. The eye bolt of each buoyant object is attached to a respective eye hook and is carried by the cable down into a hold of the vessel. The cable comes in contact with a drum assembly placed within the hold of the vessel and the eye hook has a portion which extends through the cable and contacts the drum so as to force the eye hook to pivot and release the buoyant object within the hold of the vessel. As the objects are released within the hold FIG. 1 is an assembly drawing of the apparatus for raising sunken vessels from the bottom of the sea;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the buoyant object used to raise the sunken vessel;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the object shown in FIG. 2, taken along lines 3-3;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the rod and disc which is embedded within the object shown in FIG. 3; 7

FIG. 5 is an enlarged partial side elevation view of the cable shown in FIG. 1, showing the pivoting eye hook; and

FIG. 6 is a top elevation view of the eye hook shown in FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED I EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIGS. 1 to 6, the inventive apparatus and technique for raising a sunken vessel from the bed of a body of water will now be explained.

Referring to FIG. 1-, the apparatus for raising sunken vessels consists of a buoyant object 10, means for conveying the buoyant object from the surface of a body of water 12 to a hold of a sunken vessel 14, and means for releasing the buoyant objects within the hold so that the objects flow to the top of the hold and provide a sufficient buoyant force to lift the vessel to the surface.

Buoyant object 10 is shown in FIG. 2 to have a spherical shape wherein there is a recess 16 within the bottom portion of the object, which recess effectively exposes an eye bolt 18. As shown in FIG. 3 and 4, eye bolt 18 forms one end of a rod 20, which rod in this instance may be made of 1/ 1 6th inch diameter steel. Eye bolt 18 so fits into recess 16 that it does not protrude outward from the natural spherical dimension of the object. Object 10 has another casing or shell which in this example consists of half sections 22 of water repellent material, which can withstand the pressure of the water at the bottom of the body of water where the sunken vessel is resting. In this instance, half sections 22 can be made of fiberglass. The core of object 10 is filled with a rigid polyurethane foam 23, wherein rod 20 is embedded therewithin. The polyurethane foam consists of polyols and isocianate catalysts such as is described in US. Pat. Nos. 3,608,008; 3,154,606; 3,127,457 and Reissue 24,514. Once the appropriate polyurethane foam resin is mixed, it is placed within one of the halves of fiberglass shell 22. The other half of fiber glass shell 22 is sealed to the one half using standard typeepoxy glue-or any other appropriate bonding technique, while and rod 20 when objects are placed under heavy water pressure within the hold of the sunken vessel. Discs 24 are also provided with a plurality of holes 26 therein to permit free foaming action for the foam resin within the sphere after the two half shells are joined.

The conveying means is provided by a cable 28 shown in H6. 1, which forms a closed loop path between a vessel 30 at the surface of the body of water and sunken vessel 14. Cable 28 has a plurality of pivoting eye hooks 32 mounted thereon. Eye hook 32 has a hooked shape upper section 34 which fits within eye bolt 18 of object 10 so as to attach object 10 to cable 28. Eye hook 32 has a lower bent bottom section 36, which extends through cable 28. Eye hook 32 is pivot mounted at 38 to a metal member 40, which member has a slot 42 so as to allow eye hook 32 to tilt both a clockwise and counterclockwise direction with respect to the plane of the longitudinal axis of the cable.

Cable 32 contacts a drive winch 44 which is located on surface vessel 30 and, as shown in FIG. 1, drive winch 44 provides the clockwise movement for the closed loop formed by cable 28. Drive winch 44 can, of course, be driven by any standard motor drive. After eye hook 32 passes drive winch 44 on the surface vessel, an operator can attach buoyant object 10 to cable 28 by having eye bolt 18 of object 10 engage hooked shape section 34 of eye hook 32. In this manner, cable 28 can be loaded with objects which are to be transported to the hold of the sunken vessel.

Cable 28, can pass through two separate holes in the hold of the sunken vessel, which holes are located near I the bottom of the vessel. These holes, of course, should be large enough to permit the buoyant objects to pass therethrough and into the hold of the sunken vessel. In this example the cable can have a diameter of approximately 1 inch, while the diameter of the buoyant objects can be typically two and one half feet. Of course, the buoyant objects can be made other sizes as desired, depending upon the required lift or buoyance needed, since the buoyancy in pounds is proportional to the radius of the sphere and also proportional to the cubic feet of polyurethane foam.

Means for releasing the buoyant objects from the cable once the cable enters the hold of the sunken vessel is provided by a drum assembly 46, which is fastened to the frame of the hold by a bracket 48. The drum assembly includes a cylindrical or other suitably shaped drum 50, which provides the return path for cable 28. As bottom section 36 of eye hook 32 contacts drum 50, eye hook 32 tilts or pivots in a clockwise direction so as to become disengaged from eye bolt 18, thereby releasing buoyant object 10 from cable 28, whereupon buoyant object 10 floats to the top of the hold of the sunken vessel.

Thus, in this manner, a sufficient quantity of buoyant objects are sequentially deposited within the hold of the sunken vessel until they provide sufficient buoyancy to raise the sunken vessel to the surface of the body of water 12. The danger to divers resulting from shifts in the sunken vessel just prior to it being raised is eliminated since once the drum assembly is installed within the hold of the vessel and the closed loop for cable 28 is established, there is no longer a need to have any divers within the vicinity of the sunken vessel, and the sunken vessel can thus be raised automatically after loading of sufficient quantities of buoyant objects on to cable 28, which objects automatically become released from the cable within the hold of the sunken vessel.

It thus is seen that there is provided an apparatus for raising sunken vessels which achieves the several objects of the invention and. is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiments above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein described, or shown in the accompanying drawings, is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having now described the invention, there is claimed as new and is desired to be secured by Letters Patent:

1. An apparatus for raising a sunken vessel, said apparatus including a plurality of buoyant objects, means for conveying said objects from a vessel on the surface of a body of water to within a hold of the sunken vessel, and means for releasing said objects within the hold of the vessel so that the objects float to the top of the hold and cumulatively provide sufficient buoyancy to raise the vessel to the surface, each of said buoyant objects including an eye bolt, means attaching said eye bolt to the associated buoyant objects, said conveying means including an endless cable, a drive winch on the surface vessel, a drum within the hold, said cable forming a loop running directly between said winch and drum, a plurality of eye hooks, and means pivotally attaching said eye hooks to said cable, said eye bolt of each of said buoyant objects being attachable to said eye hooks at the surface vessel and being carried by said cable to the drum in the hold of the vessel, means on said eye hooks for contacting said drum, forcing said eye hooks to pivot and become disengaged from said eye bolts of said buoyant objects so as to release said buoyant objects within the hold of the vessel.

2. An-apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of said objects is spherically shaped and has a recess therein for positioning said eye bolt so as to avoid having it protrude outward from the spherical dimension thereof.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein each of said objects is comprised of an outer shell, an inner core of rigid polyurethane foam, and a metal rod attached to said eye bolt-and embedded within said polyurethane foam core.

4. An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said outer shell is comprised of two matched halves of fiberglass.

5. An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said rod further includes a plurality of discs attached thereto and spaced apart to distribute the shear stress between said rod and said core caused by water pressure within the hold of the sunken vessel.

6. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein each of said discs has a plurality of holes therein.

at: =l= 

1. An apparatus for raising a sunken vessel, said apparatus including a plurality of buoyant objects, means for conveying said objects from a vessel on the surface of a body of water to within a hold of the sunken vessel, and means for releasing said objects within the hold of the vessel so that the objects float to the top of the hold and cumulatively provide sufficient buoyancy to raise the vessel to the surface, each of said buoyant objects including an eye bolt, means attaching said eye bolt to the associated buoyant objects, said conveying means including an endless cable, a drive winch on the surface vessel, a drum within the hold, said cable forming a loop running directly between said winch and drum, a plurality of eye hooks, and means pivotally attaching said eye hooks to said cable, said eye bolt of each of said buoyant objects being attachable to said eye hooks at the surface vessel and being carried by said cable to the drum in the hold of the vessel, means on said eye hooks for contacting said drum, forcing said eye hooks to pivot and become disengaged from said eye bolts of said buoyant objects so as to release said buoyant objects within the hold of the vessel.
 2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of said objects is spherically shaped and has a recess therein for positioning said eye bolt so as to avoid having it protrude outward from the spherical dimension thereof.
 3. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein each of said objects is comprised of an outer shell, an inner core of rigid polyurethane foam, and a metal rod attached to said eye bolt and embedded within said polyurethane foam core.
 4. An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said outer shell is comprised of two matched halves of fiberglass.
 5. An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said rod further includes a plurality of discs attached thereto and spaced apart to distribute the shear stress between said rod and said core caused by water pressure within the hold of the sunken vessel.
 6. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein each of said discs has a plurality of holes therein. 